New Study Looks at LGB Health in Colorado

Mental health and access to mental health care are among the biggest health challenges for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) Coloradans, according to a new Colorado Health Institute analysis of pioneering state data on health disparities faced by the state’s LGB community.The Colorado Health Institute analyzed results from the 2013 Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS), which for the first time asked respondents to report on their sexual orientation, yielding insights on health insurance coverage, access to health care and how health care is used by LGB Coloradans. The survey did not ask about gender identity, so the results do not explicitly reflect the health status of the transgender community in Colorado.The CHAS revealed that LGB Coloradans were more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to rate their general health as fair or poor and to use some types of physical health care at higher rates than heterosexual Coloradans.Mental health status and access to mental health care were areas of particular disparity:

• Nearly twice as many LGB Coloradans (22.5 percent) reported eight or more days of poor mental health — manifested by stress, depression or problems with emotions — in the month before the survey was administered compared with their heterosexual counterparts (12.4 percent), according to the CHAS.
• Nearly one of four (22.7 percent) LGB people reported needing mental health care but not receiving it compared with about one of 10 (9.0 percent) heterosexual people.
• Heterosexual and LGB Coloradans cited some similar reasons — lack of insurance and cost of treatment — for not seeking mental health care. But close to half of those LGB Coloradans who did not receive needed mental health care said it was because they did not feel comfortable talking with a health professional about their personal problems. By comparison, 27.3 percent of heterosexual Coloradans cited this reason as a barrier.

The CHAS data suggest that perceived lack of provider sensitivity and cultural competency may be keeping LGB Coloradans from seeking mental health care. Provider education could be one important step toward increasing LGB Coloradans’ utilization of mental health services.